In Theory
by sporksareweird
Summary: Some things sound good in theory, but in reality, end up being awful. Mikey learned that the hard way.


Hello there! Its been a while since I've put anything up, but I found this half-done in my word documents and figured I'd finish it and post it. I tried not to make it too sappy, but I feel like it probably is anyway. Oh well, enjoy!

* * *

There she was.

His chest tightened and his breathing became quicker. He felt flustered and excited and nervous all at once, and he loved every minute of it.

He stood on the rooftop, the ends of his orange bandanna tossing fitfully in the breeze, just watching her walk by. He did this every evening, and every evening he fell more in love with her. His bright blue eyes drank in the sight of her: long chestnut hair that swung as she walked, dark chocolate kiss eyes, full red lips, and a fit, toned body. She strolled past him without acknowledging him because, of course, she had no idea he was there. In fact, she had no idea that he even existed.

Mikey thought back to the first time he had seen her.

It had been a pretty low day for him. He had played a prank on Raph that resulted in the red banded turtle bellowing himself hoarse and proclaiming his undying hatred for his baby brother. Mike had pushed him a bit further, joking about Raph being an even bigger drama queen than the women on Master Splinter's soap operas and had been whacked over the head by just about everyone in the lair. The smoldering look Raph sent his way made the jokester realize that he was not playing around. Mikey had fled the lair in fear for his life.

"Note to self," he muttered, dangling his legs over the edge of a rooftop, "never mess with Raph's bike again."

It was when he was sitting there, broodingly overanalyzing the words that Raph had shouted and contemplating his place within the family, that she had sauntered past. She was talking on a cell phone, chatting merrily away about… comic books. Mikey's eyes widened in disbelief as she prattled on and on about the latest issue of Silver Sentry. She began making predictions about the next issue, gesturing wildly to illustrate her point, though it was lost on the person on the other end of the line. Mikey realized with a start that she was making the SAME predictions he had, as well as using the same hand gestures.

Intrigued, he stealthily followed her, sticking to the shadows while unashamedly eavesdropping on her conversation. She soon snapped her phone shut and started humming to herself, not so much a song as random happy sounds that were vaguely musical. She entered her apartment building, and Mikey watched cautiously as a light on the top floor came on and the curtains were drawn back to reveal the girl he had been practically stalking. He jumped to her building and sat on the rooftop directly above her window, listening to the sounds of her singing along to his favorite band as she cooked-- pizza, by the smell of it. Then she turned off the stereo and watched _Spider-man_, speaking along with all of the lines. When she finally switched off the light and retired to bed, Mikey realized that he was in love.

That had been three months ago, and here he still was, following his dream girl home from school. He had discovered, through snatches of phone conversations and one nerve-wracking trip to her apartment (which he accessed through the fire escape, very illegally of course) that she was an art student at NYU by the name of Aria Ambrosio. He felt that her name fit her perfectly. It was beautiful, and alliterated, as most superheroes' secret identities were. Not that he thought she was a superhero, but his unlawful entry into her home had turned up drawings that she had done of herself in a spandex suit, complete with cape. He had laughed and taken one, keeping it tucked beneath his pillow.

He noticed that his brothers were beginning to worry about him, wondering where he was going every evening and then puzzling at his starry-eyed expression when he returned. Leo had tried to talk to him about it, but Mikey had made up a quick excuse about the Justice Force and Fearless Leader had bought it. He didn't want anyone to know about Aria. He knew he'd never hear the end of it, especially from Raph.

He was shaken from his musings by a short, startled cry, and he jumped to his feet, nunchaku at the ready. He peered down at the street and felt his blood boil as four Purple Dragons started hassling Aria.

He leapt down into the fray, landing silently and spinning his 'chucks rapidly before bashing the first thug's head in. He dropped with an undignified sort of grunt, which caught the attention of the other gang members. Mikey dispatched them all quickly and started when his foot came into contact with something. He glanced down and discovered that it was the purse of his secret crush. He snagged it and looked back up, pleased and nervous as hell that she was still there.

The young woman regarded him with wide, frightened eyes. He cleared his throat and felt giddy excitement coursing through him as he prepared to charm her with his amazing and unrivaled wit.

He never got the chance.

"Let go of my purse, you fucking freak!" She screamed, trying to look determined and vicious but failing miserably.

"I'm a what now?" He spluttered, his hopes of introducing himself and starting some sort of relationship beginning to shatter.

"I don't know why you took down those thugs," she began, trying to inch toward freedom but finding her way blocked by giant turtle, "probably so you can rape me for yourself—"

"I don't want to rape you!" He interjected, completely bewildered. "I wanted to stop _them _from raping you and give you your purse back."

"Ha," she scoffed. "What do you think you are, some sort of superhero? I got news for you, pal: you're too ugly to be a super hero."

Mikey's heart was breaking, exploding into a million pieces. Tears sprang to his eyes as he became nauseous with sadness.

"But Aria, I…" He began, which was a mistake because she went rigid and fixed him with an icy stare.

"How do you know my name, monster?" She yelled, hurting him even more. "Have you been following me? Oh my god," she breathed, "you were the one who broke into my house and stole my picture! What are you, like, obsessed with me or something?"

She looked so angry and scared that Mikey wanted to comfort her. He took an instinctual step forward and held out a tentative hand, but she recoiled as though he had aimed a flamethrower at her.

"Get away from me!" She cried, completely hysterical. "I'm calling the cops!" With that, she whipped out her cell phone and dialed 911.

Mikey sent her one last pleading look, murmuring, "I just wanted to help you."

She completely ignored him and began crying to the operator that she was being attacked by a giant mutant turtle monster that wanted to rape her.

Mikey had no choice but to flee, tears streaming from his eyes as he did so. He stopped eleven blocks away, sobbing for all he was worth. When he had no more tears he sat staring at the brick of the rooftop he was perched on, whimpering. He sat like this for a very long time, until he felt someone behind him.

"Go away, Donnie," he whispered.

"Mikey, we've been looking everywhere for you!" Donatello exclaimed, disobeying his younger brother by coming closer. "You've been gone for almost twelve hours!"

Mikey said nothing.

Donnie had whipped out his shell-cell, intending to call Raph and Leo, who were searching other parts of the city, when he heard Mikey whimper and sniffle. He gazed down at his younger brother in concern. "What's wrong, Mike?" he asked gently.

"I don't want to talk about it," Mikey answered, sullen and monotone. Donatello didn't know what to think. This was not the Mikey he knew. He put his cell back in his belt, call forgotten, and sat down next to his brother. Mikey turned his face away, but not before Donnie had seen that he had been crying.

"What's up, little bro?" Donnie murmured soothingly, putting a comforting hand on his distressed sibling's shoulder. Mikey made a soft keening sound and leaned into the touch.

"She thinks I'm a monster, Donnie," he whispered, choking back a sob. "I tried to help her and she just yelled at me to get away." He turned to his bewildered brother in purple and whispered, "she was so perfect, Donnie. So perfect."

Then, before he could stop himself, he was telling his brother the whole story. Donnie just sat silently through it all, his brown eyes friendly and his expression neutral. When the orange clad turtle was finished, Donnie wordlessly threw an arm around his shoulders and hugged him close. Mikey began to cry afresh, and Donnie made soft comforting sounds in his throat. After a while Donnie's shell cell rang and he answered it with his free hand.

"Don here," he said, by way of greeting. "Yeah, Leo, he's here with me. No, no, he's not hurt." He glanced at the top of his baby brother's head as he sniffled against his plastron. "At least not physically. We'll be home in a little bit. No, no, it wasn't anything Raph did. Tell him not to blame himself. Yeah. Okay. See you soon. Bye."

He closed the phone and slipped it back into his belt. Mikey shifted against him and began to pull away so Donnie loosened his grip a bit. Mikey twisted around to face his brother and gave him a tentative grin.

"Thanks for that, bro," he said, rubbing his eyes with both hands.

"No problem, Mike," Donnie replied softly.

They sat silently for a few minutes before Mikey sighed and his shoulders slumped.

"I don't know what I was thinking. Of course she would be scared of me. Everyone is. Heck, even April was when she first met us. She fainted twice!" He exclaimed, holding up two fingers for emphasis. "Someone as perfect as Aria—"

"Stop saying she's perfect," Donnie admonished mildly. "Someone who could treat another person like that can't possibly be perfect."

Mikey stared at his brother as though he'd just stated that Master Yoshi hadn't been THAT great of a ninja. "But Donnie! Didn't you hear how I described her?" Mikey questioned, his eyes gaining a faraway look as he remembered her.

"Yeah," Don responded simply. "So what? She sounds great in theory, but turned out to be awful."

"But Donnie!" Mikey exclaimed again. "I mean, even April was scared of us at first, you know? I don't hear you calling her awful."

"Once we explained ourselves to her, April accepted us. You tried to tell that girl you were helping her and she was too pigheaded to listen," Donnie replied, a little bit of venom seeping into his voice as he talked about the girl. "And that whole bit about you being too ugly to be a superhero almost makes me want to track her down and take a whack at her with my bo." He snuck a peek at Mikey out of the corner of his eye and tried to keep the amusement from showing on his face when he saw the younger turtle's shocked expression. "I'd give her the what-for," he went on, trying to sound tough but unable to keep the slight chuckle from his voice."

Mikey snorted. "Riiiiiiiiight," he said sarcastically.

"Hey, I'm tough," Donnie said, false indignation coloring his voice. He beat his plastron with one hand and grinned at Mikey. "No one messes with MY baby brother."

And although he knew he was joking, Mikey also knew that Donnie meant every word he said. The orange clad one tilted his head to the right and examined Donnie's face, so warm and friendly, and noted the way his eyes were twinkling from this moment of brotherly sarcasm. He grinned warmly and wrapped his arms around his brother with such ferocity that he knocked the wind out of him, causing the purple banded turtle to let out and audible "oomph!" He squeezed him tightly for a moment, then released him and leapt to his feet.

"Come on, bro! Last one back to the lair's a purple dragon!"

Donnie hauled himself up and took off after his agile sibling, already resigning himself to defeat. "Aww, man! I don't wanna be a purple dragon!"

"Why not?" Mikey called over his shoulder, speed never faltering. "I thought you were 'tough.'"

"Oh, a wise guy, huh?" Donnie shouted, quickening his pace. "We'll see about that!"

Mikey shrieked with excited glee as the two brothers hurtled across the rooftops. Then they leapt down into an alleyway, pried off the cover of a manhole, and disappeared into the sewers. The race continued there, but Donatello was beginning to tire. Mikey dashed ahead of him and was first to reach the lair. He burst through the doors, whooping with victory and proclaiming himself to be the Battle Nexus Champion. Leo and Raph came running into the room and tried to question him but he ignored them. Running to his room, he reached underneath his pillow and produced a creased piece of paper that appeared to have been torn from a sketch book. He bounded back into the main room just as Donatello was arriving. The older turtle looked like he wanted to rest, but Mikey grabbed his arm and dragged him to into his lab. Raph and Leo followed, still trying to figure out what was going on. Once there, Donnie seemed to know what Mikey wanted to do. He pulled out a small stone bowl and set it on the table. Mikey folded up the paper very small and placed it in the bowl, then took the book of matches from his older brother and struck one. He stared at the flame for a minute before resolutely throwing it into the bowl as well. It took a moment for the paper to catch fire, but once it did it flared brightly. Mikey felt a wave of sadness as he watched the sketch burn, but then Donnie's hand was on his shoulder, and he realized that he wasn't alone. Even though they didn't know what was going on, Leo and Raph got in on the action, too. Leo put his hand on Mikey's other shoulder, but then Raph pushed the other two away, putting Mikey into an affectionate headlock.

Mikey realized that even though some might think him a monster, he was surrounded by brothers who loved and supported him. His eyes brimmed with barely suppressed tears. Then Raph's arm tightened and he twisted Mikey around to look into his eyes.

"I still need to kick your ass for that pudding incident earlier, Mikey. Don't think I forgot."

The younger turtle's eyes widened and he froze, but then he wriggled out of Raph's grasp and took off, cackling. "Can't catch me!"

Raph charged after him with a roar, but everyone knew that it was mostly just for show. He grinned as he ran, leaping over the couch in hot pursuit of the offending turtle.

Donnie sighed contentedly and sank down into his swivel chair. "Mikey is going to be just fine."

Leo arched an eye ridge. "Provided Raph doesn't kill him, of course," he said dryly as a they heard a resounding crash followed by shrill pleas for mercy.

Donnie chuckled. "Of course."


End file.
